Main navigation

British-bodied Bug tops Argentinian concours

A rare Bertelli-built Bugatti Type 57 won best of show at this year’s Autoclásica in Argentina.The Roadster – which the Feltham-based coachbuilder constructed to first owner Colonel Giles’ own design – was entered by local collector Daniel Sielecki.Christened Theresa, it was the star of both the Molsheim-dedicated class and the 500-strong entries at the 7-10 October event at Buenos Aires’ San Isidro Hippodrome.

Other award winners – at what is Argentina’s most prestigious classic fixture –included a 1947 Jaguar MkIV drophead coupé and a Ferrari 250GT SWB, while the event’s FIVA preservation trophy went to a 1917 Ford Model T with a Briggs body (below).

Show highlights extended to a 1949 Cisitalia 204A (below). The first car to feature Carlo Abarth’s famous Scorpion badge, this example was imported just in time to go on display.

The event also included a fascinating range of Argentinian-built racing cars, such as competition cars from the Fuerza Libre series and the 1970s National Formula 1 championship, but it was the Huayra Pronello Ford sports prototype – one of just six built – that attracted the most interest.

But talk of the show was an IAME (above) – the short-lived 1954 design that was available with both Porsche or Ford engines, and which the manufacturer invited President Peron to drive to boost the car's publicity.